Reality appears to have finally hit Carles Puigdemont square in the face.

Spanish TV channel Telecinco this week obtained text messages it says were sent by the ex-Catalan regional president to one of his former ministers, in which Puigdemont admitted the game is up and “the Moncloa’s [the office of Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy] plan has triumphed.”

Puigdemont and the recipient of the messages — another exiled pro-independence politician, Toni Comín — both took to Twitter to denounce the journalistic methods used to obtain the texts, but didn’t deny that they were sent.

So what now for Puigdemont, who’s been in Belgium since shortly after the illegal (according to Madrid) independence vote, and who faces arrest if he steps back on Spanish soil? He’s been hanging out with the Flemish N-VA party but he’ll surely need a source of income pretty soon.

Here are five options he might like to explore:

1. Foreign correspondent

As Puigdemont was at pains to point out when denouncing Telecinco, “I am a journalist and I have always understood that there are limits, such as privacy, which should never be violated.”

Perhaps he could dust off the old notebook and report on EU affairs for Catalan media. He’s well sourced in Catalan circles although he might have a tiny bit of trouble getting senior figures in Madrid to return his calls, and he might not be the most impartial reporter (not always a handicap in Spanish media).

But that would be a small price to pay for being able to cover European Council summits and attend press briefings given by a certain Mariano Rajoy. That could be a tad awkward.

Of course, Puigdemont would have to make sure he doesn’t fall for the old “you’ve been invited to a briefing at the Spanish embassy” trick as he’d be arrested as soon as he steps through the door.

2. Flemish politician

The New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) has become Puigdemont’s Belgian home-away-from-home. The Flemish nationalists, who have at times called for the breakup of Belgium, sided openly with the separatists in northeastern Spain and the former Catalan president was welcomed with open arms after fleeing.

Theo Francken, Belgium’s state secretary for asylum and migration, even said in October that “Catalan people who feel politically threatened can ask for asylum in Belgium. That includes President Puigdemont. This is 100 percent legal.”

If that was to happen, why not make Puigdemont an N-VA figurehead and put him on the ticket. He has name value, can attract a big crowd and has a track record of winning elections (albeit not always legal ones). Plus, supporters of Puigdemont — including some in Belgium — had argued that he could carry out his role in Catalonia with the use of technology such as video links (see below). If that’s the thinking, there’s no reason why he couldn’t run, say, Bruges (or Brugge, if you will) from Brussels.

3. Forest ranger

Perhaps understandably, Puigdemont disappeared off the radar for a while after landing in Belgium. When he reappeared, it was to speak to the Le Soir daily while walking in a forest. (It was a pre-arranged meeting, Puigdemont wasn’t hanging around waiting for a passing journalist out walking his or her dog.)

The interview took place in the Arboretum of Tervuren — whose website calls it “the Kingdom of Trees” but doesn’t make clear if that’s a self-proclaimed independent kingdom — which was no doubt glad of the publicity. Its bosses could return the favor by employing Puigdemont to keep the place tidy and prove he’s turned over a new leaf.

4. Run a baraque à frites

If the former Catalan president really wants to blend in and embrace the deep-fried Bruxellois lifestyle, what better way to do it than open his own frites stand.

Sure, it wouldn’t be El Bulli, but selling fries while telling stories about the old days in the Catalan quasi-Republic could be a winner.

But go elsewhere if you want sauce Andalouse.

5. Tech guru

If Puigdemont can’t go home without landing in jail, then surely he can govern from elsewhere? That was the call from some of his supporters, who suggested he run Catalonia over Skype. The Spanish courts were having none of that and dismissed the idea out of hand.

Is it possible to govern remotely? There’s no reason why not, and what better ambassador for the tech that would allow it to happen than Puigdemont himself.

The new “Exile App” could even be run entirely by emoji. Police sent in by Madrid to beat up pensioners trying to vote? 😟 Rajoy’s Popular Party faces fresh corruption scandal? 😎 Interpol knocking at the door? 💩

An extra feature could be to beam Puigdemont into the room as a hologram, just like Princess Leia in “Star Wars” or Tupac at Coachella.

Related stories on these topics:

Simon Mundy

This really is not funny. Politico, sadly, seems to be in the grip of those who support the Spanish government’s mediaeval approach to political development.

Posted on 2/1/18 | 6:28 PM CET

Ronald Grünebaum

The last sentence sums it up, of course.
Mr P. should just face the judges and accept that acts have consequences.
But he isn’t safe in Belgium as some seem to believe. If Spain issues an international arrest warrant for the alleged misuse of public funds even a hapless judicial system such as the Belgian variety has to engage the appropriate procedures.

Posted on 2/1/18 | 6:32 PM CET

George Hannover

This is not the kind of content I was expecting from politico.eu

Posted on 2/1/18 | 6:37 PM CET

Sean

The EU and the countries within it are supposed to be the peak of freedom and human rights across the big bad world.

Am I alone in find it a bit odd that this guy has effectively claimed political asylum in one EU country to protect himself from another EU country?

Posted on 2/1/18 | 6:57 PM CET

Michael

Simon, stop with the hysterics, that doesn’t help with anything here.

Posted on 2/1/18 | 7:09 PM CET

Carla

Do you really think it’s okay to make fun of the lack of democratic values in Spain? I certainly wasn’t expecting this kind of tabloid journalism from a newspaper like politico.eu. Way to go.

Posted on 2/1/18 | 7:56 PM CET

Tatar

Politico is EU propaganda with slightly less integrity than Soviet Pravda.

Posted on 2/1/18 | 8:08 PM CET

DanCzech

Best article about this clown I’ve read in long time. Simply hilarious.

Posted on 2/1/18 | 8:14 PM CET

Carla

Do you think it’s funny to make fun of the lack of democratic values in Spain? I wasn’t expecting this kind of tabloid journalism from politico.eu.

Posted on 2/1/18 | 8:27 PM CET

edel

@Sean, Puigdemont is not in a “effectively claimed political asylum”, if he could his lawyer would already had asked for that since day one, politically will harm Spain much more than the current situation (and protect Puigdemont fro any extradition too)

What happens is that the Belgium’s legal code does not have a Rebellion coded as the Spanish does so most likely Belgium would extradite Puigdemont with the condition he would be judged for the lesser charges of sedition (8yrs) and funds misappropriation(3-5yrs). The Judge judging his case decided to gain more time so he can be judged for the biggest of his charges too. These minuend between justices of different countries is very normal, for instance the EU does not extradite to the US unless it gets an assurance the US will never apply the ‘ultimate penalty’.

@Simon Mundy, I have not detected any support for any side from politco and it has let pro-independence writers like Puigdemont write entire articles here.

Back to the article; Just today, there is the suggestion fro the pro-independence movement to have two presidencies, “one symbolic [chaired by Puigdemont] and one effective [chaired for a third person]”.

One thing it is not mentioned here is that, if everything else fail, the judge intents to activate the European Arrest warrant again so Puigdemont better don’t get into long term commitments.

I said it before, having the entire Catalonia government pending on him, 4 of his peers on prison (because of him) it will be a huge psychological weight if he keeps enjoying from afar. Had he not ran away, Spain would not have a strong case to preventive prison at this point. Then had he’d gone to the judge, he would have got pardoned within months. Instead he claims himself still president, bashes the Supreme court judge and tries to make a theater to harm the Spanish Judiciary. He is one of those persons like Trump that thinks just because he won he can do anything, the difference is that Trump at least stops right before violating the Constitution or disobeying a court order.

Posted on 2/1/18 | 9:16 PM CET

George

Pathetic! Politico is the actual joke here! ALL of your predictions about the “clown Puigdemont and his circus” have been proven wrong, and now you grab on a few text messages stolen from a mobile to “make your case”. Unlike your wishes and predictions, Puigdemont and the independence movement is STILL here, alive, and active as ever.

This piece is humorless, EXTREMELY SHALLOW (if not childish) and unfortunately, replete with Madrid’s propaganda.

Politico is a journalistic circus!

Posted on 2/1/18 | 9:19 PM CET

edel

@Carla and others, Did you noticed this is under “Unreality Check” section? Like the Cartoons of the week section, it is just to play around a bit with the news.

So we can make fun of the state of the NHS and its patients, or the farmers and his troubles, or the Finns or Italians… but gosh, not of self-exiled Puigdemont.

Posted on 2/1/18 | 9:29 PM CET

reader from California

Great article. Thank you

Posted on 2/1/18 | 11:09 PM CET

wow

Well, I didn’t see that coming… Oh wait I did…It was obvious..

Posted on 2/2/18 | 8:44 AM CET

wow

A fireman maybe?

Oh wait they don’t run to another country when a fire happens… forget I mentioned it…

Posted on 2/2/18 | 8:47 AM CET

Federica

This is not funny at all. Beyond showing a clear bias towards one of the two parties, which is not really a sign of good journalism, it also shows a profound disrespect for the human vicissitudes of the people mentioned.

Posted on 2/2/18 | 10:04 AM CET

JRVerges

Or he could write articles as useless
as this one.Probably its authors would be suitable for any of the jobs they suggest for Puigdemont.

Posted on 2/2/18 | 11:41 AM CET

DanCzech

@JRVerges I fully agree with you. What he wrote in the past in this newspaper is the same kind of joke as this article.

Posted on 2/2/18 | 12:30 PM CET

ines

So what now for Puigdemont, who’s been in Belgium since shortly after the illegal (according to Madrid) independence ….are you kidding me?!! illegal according to Madrid? you mean according to Spanish law, where all us Spaniard citizens must abide??

Posted on 2/2/18 | 2:40 PM CET

Marek Zdunikovsky

This delinquent had better turned himself to justice, stand trial and serve his prison term.

Posted on 2/2/18 | 3:22 PM CET

Cor

Today the judge Llarena denied freedom to Quim Forn, who is in “preventive” jail (no trial yet) because the judge thinks that Forn is not yet clearly retracted from independentism. What kind of “justice” is Puigdemont facing if he comes back? Spanish high courts are judging ideas and they don’t even hide the fact that Forn, Junqueras, Cuixart and Sànchez are political prisoners.

Posted on 2/2/18 | 11:37 PM CET

grocginesta

Fascinating how injustice, in the name of the law, can deserve such quantity of comments. It seems that Spain (cruelty in toros, old-fashioned religion, corrupted politicians, porn-news and porn-tv-programms, unpoliteness in the ordinary life, low productivity, plundering of retired people funds, low rate on using foreign languages, non-suitable timetables, misconduct at happenings, current unfair courts’s behaviour, and former black -true- legend in SouthAmerica, in Belgium, in England) still provides some attraction to foreigners.
Ok. It’s a pity.
In fact, Spain is pain for the world.
(But Spaniards seem so friendly….)

Posted on 2/3/18 | 1:23 AM CET

Enric

Unbecoming of a journalist. Shame on you. You’re talking about an elected politician, backed up TWICE by a majority of Catalans on an election. Your distasteful article making a mockery of the President of Catalonia is an insult you should retract. Politico should know best than allowing this type of low-quality yellow-press journalism.

Posted on 2/3/18 | 2:47 AM CET

Phoebus Panigyrakis

indeed not funny. If you want money ask for it. Down cheapen your content.

Posted on 2/3/18 | 7:06 AM CET

wow

Charles took this london olympic song seriously, wheras the UK public all made fun of it and had a good laugh.

Posted on 2/3/18 | 8:26 AM CET

wow

Running away to another country though… what a clown.

Posted on 2/3/18 | 8:28 AM CET

wow

*We are very cynical in the UK. The EU have not figured this out yet and keep trying fluffy peace and love propaganda that we all laugh at.

UK government knows better than to even bother (as cynics themselves).

Posted on 2/3/18 | 8:37 AM CET

Spanish_in_EC

The article is really bad, but it is a joke… just for fun, like a cartoon… so should not be taken too seriosuly.
a
However, what is more serious is to read in the thread of comments some “very uninformed” contributions!
Mr Puigdemont was indeed elected to govern a region of Spain, thanks to the Spanish Constitution and Catalan Estatut (regional law). He, same as any person lving in a democratic country, has to follow the law or, otherwise, take the consequences.
In the different laws valid in a country, there are things that are forbidden, and those who do them go to court, where the action is judged and punished according to that law.

In Spain, the “rebelion” (i.e. go against the unity of the country) is something explicitely mentioned and these people have been accussed of committing rebelion. Obviously, rebelion has a strong link with ideas; but people don’t get judged by their ifeas (they have been expressing them for many years, a proof is that this has always been in their speeches, before and after the election that brought them to govern in Cataluña).

Rebelion is not an issue recognised by the Belgian law. This is as if overspeeding in one country would be punished with jail, but not punished in another one. If you are caught overspeeding and want to avoid jail, you simply go to the country where this is not an issue, and trust that the extradiction agreements will protect you…

The fact that others are in jail after the hearing was actually forced by the trip of Mr Puigdemont to Brussels. Had he not abandoned Spain, they may all have got the possibility to pay a fee to stay out of preventive jail, with the cimpromise if staying in the country(this is as per the spanish law, a possibility) . Since Mr Puigdemont decided to leave, it was considered by the judge “quite likely” that others would also leave, and therefore, decided not to choose that possible pain and stuck with the pain of jail.

I recommend to all those expressing that what has happened goes against human rights, to consider seriously what they are saying (they were not arrested for the expression of ideas), or to revisit their considerations (they are not arrested for their ideas, but for their acts that are recognised as against the law). Also, remember that Mr Puigdemont has just “moved” to another EU country, thanks to the Spanish legal framework….
At the end, if there is a law in the Constitution and there is a group of people who consider it has to be changed, they shoud try to do so within legality (following the established processes), but if they decide unilaterally to go against it, the consequences cannot be avoided. And the separation between the powers means that, even if you are the most famous car racer, if you overspeed in the street in a country where it is punished, you are punished. This is an important part of DEMOCRACY.

Posted on 2/3/18 | 9:51 AM CET

Xampas

Lol… guys, dont try explainthe article to the catalan independentists, they just have no sense of humour. +check their reaction, sample: carla, grocginesta, etc… which answers are full of the same lies Puigdemont and cia spread all over about Spain

Posted on 2/3/18 | 5:57 PM CET

Gary

This article could be perfectly signed for one of M. Rajoy’s henchmen, this is the kind of crap Moncloa sends to the media to be published in exchange of… use your imagination.

Posted on 2/4/18 | 12:13 AM CET

wow

@Spanish in eu

Hello there I support catalan vote on independence just like the Scottish had here in the UK. Certainly this article is propaganda against calataln….it is obvious! Politico is all propaganda so do not be surprised.

however, I am taking the **** out of Carles because he ran off to Brussels. Well….. He DID run off like a clown and he did that all by himself. That’s not propaganda. It’s a FACT. I think the man is a clown. He did that himself. THings are not black and whote and I can support the catalan right to vote and not have their granny’s beaten up by Spain… and I can also think this man is a clown.

The choices are not mutually exclusive. I can choose both.

Posted on 2/4/18 | 7:57 AM CET

Thomas S.

A very dark and disgusting attempt at humour given that the man won the referendum and even won the election thereafter.

Posted on 2/4/18 | 8:55 AM CET

Gary

@wow The move to Brussels was planned. Remember the whole team went there and only half of it came back to test the waters. If Mr Puigdemont was in prison now we wouldn’t be talking about Catalonia anymore, Spain would have total control over the media and the Catalan government.

F.A.

wow

@gary

true, but he’d be a hero martyr instead of a clown.

Posted on 2/5/18 | 7:50 AM CET

Gary

@wow Sure? I don’t see any media talking about Oriol Junqueras.

Posted on 2/5/18 | 3:44 PM CET

Mery

You agree that the laws should be respected in Belgium and anywhere in the civilized world!!! This comic character, called Puigdemon is laughing at Europe in his face. If one day he can rule he will be a Musollini, a dictator to whom everyone must follow whatever the consequences. I hope this day never arrives.

Posted on 2/5/18 | 4:27 PM CET

Milton38

“Is it possible to govern remotely?”
Of course it is. Ask the Dutch government and the French.

Posted on 2/6/18 | 4:56 AM CET

Milton38

“Is it possible to govern remotely?”
Of course it is. Ask the Dutch government and the French.
You must just inform the world that you have been occupied and are now fighting for freedom from abroad.
Problem may be of course credibility.

Posted on 2/6/18 | 4:59 AM CET

Scorpio

The man doesn’t deserve any consideration. He is but a coward whose only wish is to save his skin, at any price.